With Halloween just a few days away, there has been a lot of discussion amongst my friends about if or how we should celebrate it, especially in light of the video that has been circulating for some time now by John Ramirez, a former Satanist. The discussions have included:
-Should we dress up?
-Should I give out treats?
-Should we go to any events?
-Why do churches take part in it and do trunk or treat?
-When else can we show creativity and dress up?
-What about the opportunity to witness with giving treats?
So on and so forth. While there are many responses and opinions to these questions (and yes, I do have my own personal convictions that even differ from my husband’s), I’ve decided to try and take a different approach.
Do you know what world changing event took place on October 31st 506 years ago? Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church doors that would be the spark to ignite all Christendom and push it into a new era. Unbeknownst to him at the time what that act was going to do and how potent and divisive it would become, he knew that the church needed to be challenged in the things it was doing in complete contradiction to the word of God. So he took a stand but in the most respectful way he knew. He was expecting the scholars to debate the important issues of his challenges as he followed the normal protocol for such discussions and he assumed that the Pope would agree with his position since it was based on Scripture. But instead, things went up in flames…and quite literally in many ways. Without Martin Luther, church and even life as we know it would be vastly different!
So with this huge historical and monumental event taking place on October 31st, our family has made it a day of telling the story of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation era. A few years ago, I had begun the planning process of creating a Reformation Day Festival at our church to replace Trunk or Treat and any Halloween related events we had hosted. Unfortunately, life transitioned and I was never able to do it so I don’t have pictures for reference points etc. BUT, I do have the plans should anyone be interested! The basic concept was to have a Medieval village with different skilled craftsman from our community set up booths and let children get to experience what it was like during that time. Booths such as a metalwork where they could create a small, simple metal token, make candles, soaps, groom a pony, and much more! There would be a big bonfire in the center of our village and then we would have someone dressed as Martin Luther nail the theses loudly to the church door so that all craftsman freeze and halt their work. They would then be taken into a court hearing with Martin Luther before the church altar, run for his life through the “streets”, be kidnapped by his friend, and, again, much more.
Obviously, on a small home front I cannot do that. Nor do I really have much time this year to plan it since it’s been a crazy few months in our household. But I still want to place the focus on Reformation especially in this time we are living now. Perhaps you’d like to as well but need some ideas! Listen, as a busy mom with a toddler…I promise, I won’t overwhelm you! Here’s some basic ideas for a last minute Reformation party (maybe next year I’ll be more prepared and have a more extensive plan for those who want more)! You can even pick and choose and not do all of them, but all should be things you can do on a turn of a dime to prepare.
- Make a medieval dinner and don’t use utensils (chicken leg, corn on the cob, soup in a bowl they can slurp from…taking my cues from Medieval Times here…hard cheese, bread…you don’t have to go crazy, medieval German food would be the most ideal)
- Have your children help you make honey cakes for dessert (pinterest: Medieval honey cake recipe and pick one!)
- Print out the 95 theses (here’s a link) and put them on your door. If you want a real effect without literally nailing something to your door, find a piece of wood to let them take turns hammering the theses on to and setting it up somewhere that’s noticeable during your dinner.
- Light candles (or turn on since we live in a battery operated world) for dinner
- Find a storybook of Martin Luther at the library or tell his story
- Sing “A Mighty Fortress” written by Martin Luther
- You may want to watch Torchlighters: Martin Luther. You can find it here with other resources (including crafts, puzzles, coloring pages, worksheets etc, great for homeschoolers too!) and even includes a fun quiz you can take as a family after watching the short film. You can also purchase the movie on Amazon prime for immediate streaming as well and still access the other resources for free on the link above. There was also a Martin Luther movie made in the 1950’s, and the new Luther movie (my husband and I need to preview both) but I wanted to mention both in case it may fit your family well!
- As a final act, you can have a roll of paper tied with string that says “papal bull” and burn it in a bonfire. This papal bull was sent by the Pope to Luther to excommunicate him from the church unless he recanted, but he would not and burned the document no matter what the consequences.
**Dressing up would be something you could do depending on your view of the purpose and day.
I hope these ideas have inspired you for this upcoming Reformation Day and if you do use any of these, I’d love to see so tag @thecoppernest on Instagram, maybe I’ll feature yours in the next posts!
Warmest regards,
Kuhiwa